If this keeps up, I'm going to have to change the name of my blog to "Fun with Limes and Raspberries." Seriously, I think I have a problem. I'm addicted to these two fruits. Could be worse, I suppose. I could be addicted to liver and onions! (No offense to you liver and onion lovers out there!)
So my husband bought me this cookbook a while back...he knows I love cookbooks that tell a story. You know, about the author, why they make the recipes, what inspired them, etc. I read cookbooks cover to cover, like novels--I know a lot of you guys do, too. He got me Recipes From A Very Small Island, by Linda Greenlaw and her mother Martha Greenlaw. I'm sure most of you remember The Perfect Storm? Linda Greenlaw is the swordfish boat captain portrayed in the movie by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. How cool is that? And it turns out, her and her mom are wonderful cooks with amazing recipes and funny stories to tell. The three page section on having a real on-the-beach-buried-in-sand clambake is hilarious. The book is loaded with gorgeous photos, wonderful recipes using fresh ingredients, and lots of stories. The only thing I take issue with is the part on page 80 (in case any of you have the book) where Linda describes all New Englanders as being hoarders and afraid to throw anything away, and "gleefully returning from the town dump with more than we brought." SO NOT TRUE! I've never even been to a dump!!! We don't all hoard stuff that we may find useful some day, and plenty of us lead clutter-free lives. We may have a clutter of Legos in the living room at the moment, and ok, I do hoard chocolate, but that's it. Just wanted to set the record straight, hehe. I still love you, Linda!
So there's this recipe in there by Martha for Lemon Glazed Blueberry Cupcakes that I've had my eye on since getting the book. Nice basic cupcake recipe, with a lemony glaze that's spooned on halfway through baking. I was going shopping anyway, so added blueberries to my list. And here's where my addiction reared it's ugly, but extremely tasty head. I was making a salad that has raspberries in it...I had to make this salad, it's got my name on it! (another post about that delicious salad later.) I was buying raspberries and thought...lemon blueberry, lemon, lime, lime raspberry!! That's exactly what my inner voice said. Sad, right? Limes and raspberries invade my daily thought process!
Get outta my head, you gorgeously delicious fruits!So I decided to divide the batter in half, and add--you guessed it--blueberries to one half and raspberries to the other half, along with lemon and lime zest to the batters. (Lemon-blueberry and lime-raspberry.) I also split the glaze in half and added lemon juice/zest to one half and lime juice/zest to the other.
These are moist, tangy, not too sweet and delicious! I'd definitely make these again, and they'd even be good with a little simple buttercream on top. If I'd had more time on Sunday, I would have totally made a frosting to go on these, not that they need it--they taste great! But my cupcakes are never very pretty. Something I need to work on.
Lemon Glazed Blueberry and/or Lime Glazed Raspberry Cupcakes
-adapted from Martha Greenlaw's recipe
Supposed to make 24 cupcakes, but I got 18...
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (I used about 3/4 cups blueberries and 3/4 cups raspberries)
1 cup milk
lemon and or lime zest
glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp lemon juice (since I split it in half, I used 1 tsp each of lemon and lime juice)
3 tbsp water
grated lemon (and lime if you're using it) zest
Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin pans or line with papers.
In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In medium bowl, sift 2 cups of the flour with the baking soda and salt.
Toss the berries with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. (Again, I was dividing, so I tossed the berries separately with 1/8 cup flour each.)
On medium speed, add flour mixture to butter/sugar, alternating with the milk.
(This is where I divided the batter and added the zest and berries to each batter.)
Fold in the berries and zest.
Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes.
While those are baking, make the glaze.
Whisk the sugar and water, divide if doing so, and add the zest and juice.
After the 15 minutes are up, remove the pans from the oven, and carefully spoon the glaze over the cupcakes, about 1 tbsp over each one.
Return to oven and bake until done, 8-10 minutes.
Run a knife around each one immediately and after a couple minutes, remove to a rack to cool. (Take them out of the pan soon or the glaze will cool and stick.)
I've also been given a new (to me) award from Grace at A Southern Grace. God, she makes me laugh, and her food is just amazing. Please go check her out!
She gave me the "I Love You This Much" award. Thanks so much, Grace! I'm truly flattered and also thrilled to receive it.
I'm passing it along to...
Debbie at B More Sweet
Nikki at canarygirl.com
Amy at Delicious by Nature
Shaye at Smarter Than Pancakes
Sarah at Homemade
If you haven't checked them out yet, go...now! You're missing out on some great blogs!
Click the widget for a printable version of the recipe!
